Screening to complement our Tudor Women on Film Talk (22 Mar) as well as the Richard Burton films (from 11 Apr). King Henry VIII of England discards one wife, Catharine of Aragon, who has failed to produce a male heir, in favour of the young and beautiful Anne Boleyn.
This film adaption of a Broadway play is based on the historical events surrounding the founding of the Church of England. Catherine of Aragon (Irene Papas), empowered wife of King Henry VIII (Richard Burton), has yet to give birth to an heir. King Henry's wandering eyes fall on the devout and nubile Anne Boleyn (Geneviève Bujold), who refuses his sexual advances. Henry eventually convinces Anne to marry him, but to move forward, the king must face a church that believes divorce is a sin. This is a stunningly acted, sumptuous, grand-scale drama of the royal bed chamber and political intrigues that created the Church of England.
UK 1969 Charles Jarrott 145m